Neil Young and Promise of the Real closed out the first day of Arroyo Seco Weekend with a set that was a little bit shambling in its structure, a whole lot of wonderful in the music it presented and absolutely what you expect and want to get from the artist his much younger bandmates refer to as Uncle Neil.

Young has always done what he wants and if that means opening his headlining performance on Saturday with an 18-minute version of “Like An Inca” of his 1982 album “Trans,” well, that’s what he’s gonna do.

If it means following that lovely drawn-out number with a raucous song we can only refer to in this publication as “(Bleepin’) Up,” then have at it.

And if it means flying by the seat of Uncle Neil’s pants, with occasional delays to figure out which song and guitar come next because Young and the band decided not to write a set list, then celebrate that as putting a welcome dose of spontaneity back in rock and roll.

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“You know, we just didn’t do a set list because … it’s a list, that’s why,” Young said late in the two hours he played. And if that makes sense to him then who are we to question why?

“Cortez The Killer” was another early highlight, Young’s lyrical guitar soloing adding beauty as the notes took flight. And while he started to play “Lotta Love” in tribute to “all the kids out there, kids in cages,” only to halt it because the guitar wasn’t right, he made up for it with a version of “I Am A Child,” originally done by Buffalo Springfield, and then played “Lotta Love,” a beautiful acoustic gem off 1978’s “Comes A Time” anyway.

Lukas Nelson, singer and guitarist in Promise Of The Real, who’ve toured as Young’s band for the last few years, sang a number, as did his brother Micah Nelson. Both are sons of Young’s longtime buddy Willie Nelson.

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But the big, epic rock songs were what thrilled the most, from “Rockin’ In The Free World,” moved up from its usual place at the end of Young’s shows, to “Hey Hey, My My (Into the Black)” and “Powderfinger,” which closed out the main set, two classics off 1979’s “Rust Never Sleeps.”

For his encore Young played “Ohio,” one of his contributions to Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, and “Down By The River,” which rocked out for more than 10 minutes, before ending the night jumping up and down with grins and embraces with the band at the end of “Roll Another Number (For The Road).”

Just before Young’s closing set Jack White played a strong 90-minute set on the same stage, mixing his solo material with a very healthy dose of White Stripes classics, at times switching back and forth from song to song.

Jack White performs on day one of the Arroyo Seco Weekend music festival on Saturday, June 23, 2018. (Photo by Drew A. Kelley, Contributing Photographer)

Jack White interacts with the audience during day one of the Arroyo Seco Weekend music festival on Saturday, June 23, 2018. (Photo by Drew A. Kelley, Contributing Photographer)

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Jack White performs during day one of the Arroyo Seco Weekend music festival on Saturday, June 23, 2018. (Photo by Drew A. Kelley, Contributing Photographer)

From right, Jack White and Carla Azar perform on day one of the Arroyo Seco Weekend music festival on Saturday, June 23, 2018. (Photo by Drew A. Kelley, Contributing Photographer)

Jack White performs during day one of the Arroyo Seco Weekend music festival on Saturday, June 23, 2018. (Photo by Drew A. Kelley, Contributing Photographer)

Jack White walks onto stage during day one of the Arroyo Seco Weekend music festival on Saturday, June 23, 2018. (Photo by Drew A. Kelley, Contributing Photographer)

The Specials perform during the Arroyo Seco Weekend festival in Pasadena on Saturday, June 23, 2018. (Photo by Sarah Reingewirtz, Pasadena Star News/SCNG)

Neil Young performs during day one of two of the Arroyo Seco Weekend music festival on Saturday, June 23, 2018. (Photo by Drew A. Kelley, Contributing Photographer)

Neil Young performs on day one of the Arroyo Seco Weekend music festival on Saturday, June 23, 2018. (Photo by Drew A. Kelley, Contributing Photographer)

The Specials perform during the Arroyo Seco Weekend festival in Pasadena on Saturday, June 23, 2018. (Photo by Sarah Reingewirtz, Pasadena Star News/SCNG)

The Specials perform during the Arroyo Seco Weekend festival in Pasadena on Saturday, June 23, 2018. (Photo by Sarah Reingewirtz, Pasadena Star News/SCNG)

The Specials perform during the Arroyo Seco Weekend festival in Pasadena on Saturday, June 23, 2018. (Photo by Sarah Reingewirtz, Pasadena Star News/SCNG)

The Specials perform during the Arroyo Seco Weekend festival in Pasadena on Saturday, June 23, 2018. (Photo by Sarah Reingewirtz, Pasadena Star News/SCNG)

The Specials perform during the Arroyo Seco Weekend festival in Pasadena on Saturday, June 23, 2018. (Photo by Sarah Reingewirtz, Pasadena Star News/SCNG)

Neil Young performs on day one of the Arroyo Seco Weekend music festival on Saturday, June 23, 2018. (Photo by Drew A. Kelley, Contributing Photographer)

“Lazaretto,” the title track of a solo album, was quickly followed by the White Stripes’ “Hotel Yorba” early in his main stage set. “I Cut Like A Buffalo” from his time in the Dead Weather was followed by the Stripes’ “My Doorbell.”

White and his band was as tight as ever, and while he’s not as goofily chatty as Young, their shared love of a huge guitar solo made for a thrilling performance capped by the White Stripes’ signature song “Seven Nation Army.”

The only other nighttime performance to mention was a crowd-pleasing turn by the Specials who raced through classics from “Do The Dog” and “Gangsters” to “Rat Race” and “Doesn’t Make It Alright” sounding terrific and motivating most of the crowd to get up and dance like crazy.

Peter Larsen has been the Pop Culture Reporter for the Orange County Register since 2004, finally achieving the neat trick of getting paid to report and write about the stuff he's obsessed about pretty much all his life. He regularly covers the Oscars and the Emmys, goes to Comic-Con and Coachella, reviews pop music, and conducts interviews with authors and actors, musicians and directors, a little of this and a whole lot of that. He grew up, in order, in California, Arkansas, Kentucky and Oregon. Graduated from Lewis and Clark College in Portland, Ore. with degrees in English and Communications. Earned a master's degree at the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University. Earned his first newspaper paycheck at the Belleville (Ill.) News-Democrat, fled the Midwest for Los Angeles Daily News and finally ended up at the Orange County Register. He's taught one or two classes a semester in the journalism and mass communications department at Cal State Long Beach since 2006. Somehow managed to get a lovely lady to marry him, and with her have two daughters. And a dog named Buddy. Never forget the dog.

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